24/7 Wall St. » NUE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACI, CZR, COF, ETFC, GPS, NUE, PCX, S, TSL, UPS, WYNN, YGE, YUM)

Administrator — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:20:14 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: CZR) Started as Hold at KeyBanc; Started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) Raised to Outperform at BMO.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Cut to Underperform at Bernstein.

Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL) Started as Equal weight at Barclays.

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN) Reiterated Buy and target raised to $140 at Citigroup.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (NYSE: YGE) Started as Equal-weight at Barclays.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ACI, COF, CZR, ETFC, GPS, NUE, PCX, S, TSL, UPS, WYNN, YGE, YUM

Steel Dynamics Lowers Forecast (STLD, NUE)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:02:04 +0000

Steel maker Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) today cut its EPS guidance by around 50% of the previous consensus estimate of $0.36. The company’s new forecast is for EPS of $0.15-$0.20. Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) yesterday guided its first quarter profits much lower than anticipated.

The company says the drop is due to “margin compression” that is the result of a mid-quarter drop in the market for flat-rolled steel while raw materials prices did not experience a concomitant decrease. This represents a sharp turnaround for Steel Dynamics, which had posted a much better-than-expected EPS return in the fourth quarter.

Iron ore prices have been drifting higher as demand picks up from China, but steel prices have been held down by an over-supply that steel makers are still trying to come to grips with.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, Earnings Warning, Metals Tagged: NUE, STLD

Nucor Guidance Way Below Consensus Estimate (NUE)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:32:33 +0000

Steel-maker Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) released guidance for its first quarter of 2012 that is about 50% less than consensus estimates. The company said that EPS for the first quarter would be $0.30-$0.35 versus a consensus estimate of $0.69. Nucor posted EPS of $0.43 in the fourth quarter.

The company offers a litany of reasons for the lower earnings:

This performance reflects a flattening in the favorable pricing and margin trends for all steel mill products that began mid-quarter and unexpected margin weakness in our raw materials business. The deterioration in steel mill pricing and margin trends as compared to our expectations is due to resurgence in imports and increased competition from new domestic sheet mill supply. In addition to increased competitive pricing pressure, a seasonally atypical reduction in raw material costs, for both scrap and iron ore, contributed to buyer uncertainty and negatively impacted steel mill consumer buying patterns.

Nucor also sees a silver lining:

Despite the negative impact of excess supply, market demand continues to improve in most end markets including the construction products markets, and we believe that we have reached a positive turning point in margins. The strongest end markets continue to be in manufactured goods including heavy equipment, energy and automotive.

Shares opened fractionally lower at $43.22, in a 52-week range of $29.82-$48.00.

Filed under: Earnings Warning, Metals Tagged: NUE

Upside is Scarce in Metals and Materials Stocks (X, NUE, STLD, NEM, ABX, SLW, FCX, SCCO, AA, MCP)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:50:29 +0000

The metals and materials sector, including miners, has been hit hard by the weaker global economy. China’s manufacturing slowdown, the turmoil in Europe, and slow growth in the US have caused prices to fall even as expenses rise. All but three of the companies in this survey have had their target prices lowered in the past three months, a further signal that weaker revenues and profits may be in store for 2012.

The companies we examined were United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD), Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW), Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX), Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO), Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), and Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP).

Since November, gold prices have gained about 3%. Silver prices are essentially flat, and copper prices are up by about 5%. Titanium prices are about 6% lower, steel prices have been falling and are now about 7% lower than in November, and rare earth minerals exports from China were below expected levels in 2011, causing a price drop in the latter part of the year. Chinese production projections for 2012 are roughly equal to the 2011 production quota of 31,000 metric tons.

Newmont’s consensus target price has fallen from $81 in November to $77.92. At a current price this morning of $62.98, Newmont’s implied gain is 23.7%. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has gained more than 5%, with a 12-month share price gain of about 6.8%. The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35, a jump of 133%, following a pledge to raise dividends if gold price targets were met. The company’s dividend yield is now 2.3%.

Barrick’s target price has also been cut, from $68 to $64.72. At its current price of $49.62, Barrick’s implied gain is 30.4%. Year-to-date shares are up about 9.6%, but for the preceding 12 months, Barrick’s stock is down 5.6%. Shares are trading at less than 6% away from the 52-week high of $55.95. Over the past month, Barrick’s shares have gained 12%.

Molycorp’s target price fell from $70 to $52.83. At a current price of $28.68, the potential upside is a whopping 84%. Molycorp’s shares have lost about 38% in the past 12 months, though since January shares have risen about 20%. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.41 on revenue of about $135 million after markets close today. The company has begun a phased launch of its new manufacturing facility and expects to produce 19,050 metric tons of oxides by the end of the third quarter. That would be good news if prices weren’t falling.

US Steel’s target price remained nearly flat from November’s $34.50 to today’s $35.21. At the current price of $28.19, the implied gain is 24.9%. Falling steel prices in the fourth quarter hurt all steel makers. Global crude steel production grew 6.8% in 2011, which combined with a slower growing economy depressed prices. Global production was down -7.8% year-over-year in January, which could herald a comeback in pricing.

Nucor’s target price has risen from about $45 to $48 since November. At the current share price of $43.44, the potential upside is 10%. Two recent analyst downgrades have chopped share price gains, but Nucor’s stock is still up nearly 10% since January.

Freeport-McMoran’s target price actually rose from$53 to $55.28 in the last three months. At the current share price of $43.89, the potential upside for the stock is 26%. Freeport had a lousy fourth quarter, due mainly to labor strife in Australia. Slowly rising copper prices should help, but production may have to be reined in to keep prices moving up.

Silver Wheaton’s consensus target price fell from $49.50 to $47.80, while the share price has gained more than 26% in three months. At the current share price of $39.29, the implied gain here is 21.7%. Silver prices are roughly flat since November, and unless they improve, Silver Wheaton’s share price won’t either.

Alcoa’s target price has dropped from $13 to $11.53 since November. At the current price of $10.46, the implied gain in Alcoa stock is about 10%. Alcoa appears to have little attraction at its current share price, which is more likely to suffer than prosper from a glut of aluminum.

The target price for Steel Dynamics has risen from $16 to $18 in the past three months. At the current price of $14.75, the implied gain in the stock is 22%. As with US Steel, whether or not Steel Dynamics has a chance to add value depends on demand for steel and what that will do to prices if production continues to grow.

Southern Copper’s target price hjas fallen from $36.25 to $35.58. At the current price of $33.45, the implied gain for Southern Copper is 6.4%. The only thing that will boost Southern is a rise in copper prices.

The underlying softness in commodity prices makes any play other than gold a risky choice. Newmont and Barrick, the two gold producers in this bunch, offer significant upside potential, and rising gold prices should help, provided the miners can keep costs under control.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities, Metals Tagged: AA, ABX, FCX, MCP, NEM, NUE, SCCO, SLW, STLD, X

Another Look at Expected Gains in Metals and Materials Stocks (X, NUE, STLD, NEM, ABX, SLW, FCX, SCCO, TIE, AA, MCP)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:01:34 +0000

In mid-October, we took a look at target prices and implied gains among 11 metals and materials stocks. The companies we examined were United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD), Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW), Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX), Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO), Titanium Metals Corp. (NYSE: TIE), Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), and Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP).

Gold prices have gained about $60/ounce, about 3.6%. Silver prices are up roughly 9%. Copper prices are up by about 8.6%. Titanium prices are unchanged, steel prices have been drifting though more varieties appear to be selling at lower prices, and rare earth minerals vary widely depending on the particular mineral. Lanthanum oxides are selling for about $61/kilogram, while terbium oxide goes for $605/kilogram.

All stock data comes from Yahoo! Finance and current prices were gathered in the early afternoon today.

Of the companies we survey, all but one enjoys a higher stock price today than they did last month. The single exception is Molycorp, which is getting punished today for missing both EPS and revenue estimates. At yesterday’s closing price of $38.70, Molycorp’s share price was higher than it was a month ago.

More interesting, perhaps, were recent changes in median price targets. Only Nucor and Titanium’s price targets have remained the same in the last month. Two stocks, Newmont and Barrick, had their price targets raised and the other seven had price targets lowered.

Newmont’s target price was raised from $77 to $81. At the new target price and a current price of $70.41, Newmont’s implied gain is $10.59, or 15%. The stock put up a new 52-week high last week, and its forward P/E also rose from 10.2 to 11.47. In the past month, shares have gained more than $7, or 11%. The company’s pledge to raise dividends if gold price targets are met is another reason to look carefully at this stock.

Barrick’s target price was raised from $66.50 to $68. At the new target price and a current price of $52.61, Barrick’s implied gain is $15.39, or 29%. Shares are trading at less than 6% away from the 52-week high of $55.95. Over the past month, Barrick’s shares have gained 12%.

The largest drop in target price was settled on Molycorp, which saw its target price fall from $80- to $70. Even at that, the implied gain for the shares, based on today’s price of $34.04, is 106%. The wide gap is due not so much to any failure on Molycorp’s part but to what might be “irrational exuberance” for the stock by investors. There is also the fact that Molycorp’s mineral reserves tend to be heavy on the lower-priced rare earths and light on the higher-priced metals.

The largest percentage drop in target price was claimed by US Steel, which saw its target price fall from $40 to $34.50, nearly 14%. The company posted a new 52-week low on October 3rd. At the current price of $26.08, the implied gain is $8.42, or 32%. US Steel is widely expected to be acquired — and fairly soon — which is attracting short sellers in droves.

Freeport-McMoran’s target price fell from $55 to $53 in the past month, even though shares have added $5.05, or about 15%, in the same period. The implied gain based on the new target price and the current price of $39.83 is 33%. Freeport’s problem is that demand for copper might be stagnating or worse, given the construction slowdown in China.

Silver Wheaton’s target price fell from $51.50 to $49.50, while the share price has gained 17%. At the new target price and based on today’s price of $36.18, the implied gain here is 37%. There is plenty of headroom for Silver Wheaton’s share price to continue rising, but demand for silver will be the driver.

Alcoa’s target price dropped from $15.50 to $13 in the last month, even as the share price has risen by about 8%. At the new target price and based on the current price of $10.58, the implied gain in Alcoa stock is nearly 23%. Given that shares rose by 8% in the last month, anything’s possible, even that Alcoa may hit the lower target.

The target price for Steel Dynamics fell from $18 to $16, while share prices gained a substantial 23% in the same period. At the new target price and a current price of $13.51, the implied gain in the stock is 18%. EPS estimates for the current quarter have fallen by nearly -20% in the past month, following lowered guidance from the company.

Southern Copper’s target price fell from from $36.75 to $36.25 in the past month, even though the share price rose by 21%. At the new target and at the current price of $32.41, the implied gain for Southern Copper is nearly 12%.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, Metals Tagged: AA, ABX, FCX, MCP, NEM, NUE, SCCO, SLW, STLD, TIE, X

24/7 Wall St. Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades of the Prior Week (ALU, BIDU, CHTR, FSLR, F, NUE, STX, WMT, WFM, ZLC, WDC, AAPL)

Administrator — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:41:38 +0000

Each morning 24/7 Wall St. issued a list of some of the key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms. At the end of the week we review these calls to see which ones stand out the most. Some are great calls that were greatly insightful, some are long-term and far-reaching in nature. Other calls may be relevant well into the future, and some calls manage to be just awful. After filtering these calls out, these become the top analyst calls of the week.

This weeks top analyst calls were in the following stocks: Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU); Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU); Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR); First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F); Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE); Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX);Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT); Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM); and Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC)

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) was previously the high-flying network and communications equipment stock of the year, but then it went to being the most butchered stock of all of its peers. We wonder if this downgrade last week that took the price target to $2.35 as the rating was cut to Underperform at Jefferies may have been the last bit of bad news to get out of the way. Jefferies doesn’t seem to think so.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) is one of the companies which we had listed as being one to outperform Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) over the next year if the analysts were anywhere close to accurate on their price targets. Needless to say, it was a bit surprising to see that the rating was cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs when it seems as though China is seeing a soft landing rather than a hard landing.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) is out of bankruptcy and is still sort of considered the laggard of the cable TV sector. Not to Credit Suisse. The firm initiated coverage with a rating of “Outperform” and it gave a $60.00 price target. That would get the stock only within $1.00 of its post-reorganization high and the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters appears to be above $66 on this one.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is becoming the whipping boy of Wall Street. Despite shares falling almost each and every week, its rating was cut last Monday to Hold from But by the research team at S&P Capital IQ.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) caught a corporate credit rating upgrade on Friday from Standard & Poor’s that takes Ford to one-notch under investment grade. The rating rose from “BB-” to “BB+” and that brings Ford closer and closer to being comfortable enough to resuming its quarterly dividend payments. Ford rose 4.7% on the news.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) may have finally found a level where the stock value equals the upside. The specialty steel player was Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo on Wednesday as shares were down more than 30% from the yearly high.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) rose well over 25% on Friday due to the woes of rival Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) due to Thailand floods hurting production. Seagate was raised to Outperform at Baird and also raised to Buy at ThinkEquity on Friday ahead of the continued move higher.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is acting as though it wants to break out to the upside on the chart and go above the $55 ‘chart peak” to challenge $60.00 again. Coincidentally, last Wednesday it was named as the Growth & Income Stock of the Day by Zacks investment research. Maybe this time really is different.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) is just about always an expensive stock and buying it on pullbacks has generally been a gift. One analyst thinks it is not so expensive, or at least thinks that the organic and high-end grocery destination is heading higher still. Shares were raised to Buy at Jefferies and the price target is $90.00 per share. That is $15 above the consensus price target.

Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) is the jeweler that needs all the help it can get and it is far less actively covered than say Tiffany. Last week shares were raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch as the company has a new CFO and as the bank expects a turnaround to continue. Shares were under $3.00 early in the week and closed at $3.71 on Friday.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, The Week Tagged: AAPL, ALU, BIDU, CHTR, F, FSLR, NUE, STX, WDC, WFM, WMT, ZLC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALU, APC, INTC, JNPR, LNKD, NRG, NUE, STLD, SHOO, X, WMT, WFM, ZLC)

Administrator — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:22:15 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Wednesday morning.

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Raised target to $30 from $28 at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Hold at Canaccord.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Neutral at Lazard.
NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) named Growth & Income stock of the day at Zacks.
Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALU, APC, INTC, JNPR, LNKD, NRG, NUE, SHOO, STLD, WFM, WMT, X, ZLC

Expected Upside Gains for Leading Metals Companies (X, NUE, STLD, NEM, ABX, SLW, FCX, SCCO, TIE, AA, MCP)

Administrator — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:28:49 +0000

Companies focused on mining and metals have been experiencing high volatility this year based on both the overall global economy and, in some cases, expected demand, especially from China. We have looked at several steel makers and a number of precious and base metal miners, plus one rare earth minerals producers to help determine if expected upside gains are reachable given expected share target prices. The companies we looked at are United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD), Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW), Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX), Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO), Titanium Metals Corp. (NYSE: TIE), Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), and Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP). All data from Yahoo! Finance as of the early afternoon today.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) has a median target price of $40.00 from 14 brokers. Shares are trading today at $23.52, for an implied gain of $16.48, or 41.2%. US Steel’s forward P/E is 6.46 and the company’s dividend yield is 0.90%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $18.85-$64.03, and at today’s price that’s about 25% above its 52-week low and 63% below the 52-week high. The huge difference between US Steel’s 52-week high and its current price indicates a substantial opportunity here, if the company can get its act together. It owns its own sources of iron ore and coke, so it is relatively insulated from the higher costs faced by many other steel makers. The company should be doing better than this, but it’s a tough market out there.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) has a median target price of $45.00 from 13 brokers. Shares traded today at $34.85, for an implied gain of $10.15, or 22.6%. Nucor’s forward P/E is 10.34 and the company’s dividend yield is 4.20%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $29.82-$49.24, and at today’s price that’s about 17% above the 52-week low and 29% below the 52-week high. Nucor stock recently took a hit when the company lowered third-quarter EPS estimates to $0.45-$0.55 compared with analysts’ expectation of $0.64. Demand for raw materials raises costs for Nucor, at the same time that demand in the US has fallen.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) has a median target price of $18.00 from 13 brokers. Shares traded today at $10.95, for an implied gain of $7.05, or 39.2%. Steel Dynamics’ forward P/E is 6.49 and the company’s dividend yield is 3.70%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $8.78-$20.70, and at today’s price that’s about 25% above the 52-week low and 47% below the 52-week high. Like Nucor, Steel Dynamics revised EPS expectations downward last month by at least a third compared with analysts expectations.

Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) has a median target price of $77.00 from 16 brokers. Shares are trading today at $63.24, for an implied gain of $13.76, or 17.9%. Newmont’s forward P/E is 10.2 and the company’s dividend yield is 1.9%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $50.05-$71.25, and at today’s price that’s about 26% above the 52-week low and 11% below the 52-week high. Newmont is the largest gold miner in the world and its dividend yield is also the highest among the miners. The company has committed to raising dividends if certain gold price targets are hit, making life even tougher for competitors.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) has a median price target of $66.50 from 20 brokers. Shares traded today at $46.93, for an implied gain of $19.57, or 29.4%. Barrick’s forward P/E is 7.67 and the company’s dividend yield is 1%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $42.50-$55.95, and at today’s price that’s about 10% above the 52-week low and 16% below the 52-week high. Gold mining stocks have not been able to keep up with the rising price of gold mainly because the miners’ costs keep rising even as gold prices rise. Barrick is one of the lowest cost producers among the big gold mining companies, and that’s a real positive for the company.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Infrastructure, Metals Tagged: AA, ABX, FCX, MCP, NEM, NUE, SCCO, SLW, STLD, TIE, X

Earnings Season Arrives, Top Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (NVLS, AA, ADTN, HST, PEP, GOOG, JBHT, JPM, SWY, MAT)

Administrator — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:15:40 +0000

They’re Here! Next week will launch the corporate earnings season for the third quarter. The media is going to tell you that this is the most important earnings season in quite some time. The media always says that, but this time it is true because investors want to know whether to still model in growth or whether they need to dig in for a recessionary climate.

24/7 Wall St. has compiled detailed earnings previews for the following companies: Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS); Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA); ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN); Host Hotels and Resorts Inc. (NYSE: HST); Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG); J. B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT); J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM); Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY); and Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT).

Some of these companies will not really seem on the surface to be sector-movers or market-moving companies, but these have been selected because they are the first ones of their peer groups to be reporting earnings.

We have created a detailed earnings preview for each with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters and added color in on each for investors to see what exactly is worth consideration this earnings season. We have also added in recent price history and named where to look for additonal action (or fallout).

Monday, October 10

Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) is the first chip equipment player to report for this earnings season. it has been a few weeks since we have had earnings reports or guidance in the sector so we will be paying close attention since so many companies that are chip equipment customers have talked down their numbers in recent weeks. Our belief is that expectations are very low for the quarter ahead. Estimates are $0.68 EPS and $311.9 million in revenue; next quarter estimates are $0.50 EPS and $278.5 million in revenue. With shares hovering around $30.00 on Friday, the 52-week range is $25.26 to $41.82 and shares were above $36 in early July. After Novellus reports, we would be watching the following: Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC), and Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX).

Tuesday, October 11

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) has already talked down aluminum prices and we have already seen slowing demand out of China talked about by many sectors. Alcoa keeps maintaining that it can double its business by 2020 and we do not expect that to be changed by management even if it guides lower expectations ahead. Estimates are $0.23 EPS and $6.24 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates are $0.23 EPS and $6.11 billion in revenue. At $9.80 on Friday, the 52-week range is $8.45 to $19.47 and this one was above $16 at the start of July. There are many metals stocks to watch, some in aluminum and some in other metals: Century Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ: CENX), Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE: RS); Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ: KALU); Titanium Metals Corporation (NYSE: TIE); and Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE).

Filed under: Calendar, Corporate Governance, Earnings, Earnings Warning, Economy, Editor's Picks Tagged: AA, ADTN, AMAT, BAC, C, CENX, CHH, CIEN, GOOG, HAS, HST, JBHT, JPM, KALU, KLAC, KO, KR, LRCX, LSTR, MAR, MAT, NUE, NVLS, PEP, RS, SWY, TIE, TLAB, WFC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BSX, CI, CSC, ELN, GOOG, NDAQ, NEM, NUE, RCL, SANM, SKS, X, VVUS)

Administrator — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:10:05 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Wednesday morning.

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks; Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Elan Corporation (NYSE: ELN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Started as Outperform at Baird.
NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) Raised to Sector Perform at RBC.
Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Sanmina-SCI Corp. (NASDAQ: SANM) Cut to Underperform at RBC.
Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
VIVIUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Reiterated Buy and $9 target at BofA/ML.

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Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BSX, CI, CSC, ELN, GOOG, NDAQ, NEM, NUE, RCL, SANM, SKS, VVUS, X